1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to a web application for a professional practice and more particularly, to methods and apparatus for managing application usage.
2. Description of the Related Art
Service professionals such as: accountants, doctors, entertainers, lawyers, consultants, brokers, architects, etc. require professional practice applications to help organize their business. Traditionally these software applications are sold in modular form on a stand alone or networked basis. A professional might buy a first application for tracking clients/customers/patients and their matters/cases/histories. Another application would handle time keeping. Still another application would handle calendaring or docketing of key events. Other applications would handle accounting functions such as: accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll, general ledger and journal.
Traditionally, the use of each module, e.g. case management, time keeping, docketing, accounting, was limited to selected members of the firm or service business depending on their role in the organization. Thus, the bookkeeper for a given service profession would be the only within the organization with access to the accounting software application. Attorneys, or doctors for example would be given access to the time-keeping application, but not their staff. A docket clerk would be in control of a docketing/calendaring application and so forth. As employees of each service business are hired they are given access to the appropriate application(s) by means of loading the application on their computer, with or without a password. When an employee leaves a service business they no longer have access to the computer on which their application was loaded.
Recently, several of the above named applications, e.g. time keeping and billing have been offered on the Internet. Typically these are offered to single users on a subscription basis. While such offerings may be of use to sole practitioners, they do not meet the needs of larger service profession businesses because they are not set up for service professionals operating in a group.
What is needed is a professional service application suitable for use over the Internet by individual service professionals or service professionals operating in groups.